THE LION KING Celebrates 15 Years on Broadway Today, November 13

Disney's landmark musical event, The Lion King, celebrates 15 years on Broadway today, November 13th at the Minskoff Theatre (200 West 45th Street, New York City). Virtually the entire creative team, who collectively won six Tony Awards for their work on the show, will reunite for a one-night only celebratory performance Sunday, November 18th as a benefit for The Actors Fund. For information on purchasing those seats, with 100% of proceeds benefitting the organization, visit: http://www.actorsfund.org/performances-and-events/lion-king-5.

'Inside The Lion King,' the first immersive, pop-up exhibit ever created for a Broadway show, arrives adjacent to Bryant Park for a limited time to celebrate 15 years of The Lion King in New York City. Musical theatre enthusiasts of all ages will experience – and interact with – the music, sets, costumes, movement and show history of the Tony-winning spectacular. Located at 1095 Avenue of the Americas on the corner of 42nd Street, the exhibit will be open free to the public from 10AM – 8PM daily, December 1-16. For more information and event schedules, visit lionking.com/exhibit.

As it enters its 16th year, The Lion King is in a position unprecedented in the history of Broadway. Already the highest-grossing and fifth longest-running show in Broadway history, the show is routinely the #1 Broadway show in a given week, a feat previously unimaginable for a show at this stage in its life. As it celebrates 15 years, the show, far from slowing, has actually strengthened recently; to take but one representative bit of data, 25,000 more tickets were sold in its 15th year than in the 14th and 50,000 more tickets were sold than in the 10th.

Among the most successful titles in entertainment history, its worldwide footprint is more remarkable still. With a cumulative gross in excess of $5 billion, the title has already earned more than the biggest hit films in movie history: more than the Lord of the Rings trilogy combined, more than the six Star Wars films combined, and more than Avatar and Titanic, the #1 and #2 highest-grossing films in movie history, combined.

With seven productions currently playing around the world, it will make its South American and Portuguese language debut when it begins performances in Sao Paolo, Brazil in February 2013. With that production, The Lion King's 21 productions will have played in 98 cities in 16 countries on every continent except Antarctica.

The Broadway production has played through three Presidential administrations, four mayoral elections, eight New York City team championships and the opening and closing of 536 Broadway shows.

The show's director, costume designer and mask co-designer Julie Taymor continues to play an integral part in the show's ongoing success. The first woman to win a Tony® Award for Direction of a Musical, Taymor has in recent years supervised new productions of the show in Las Vegas, Madrid and the UK tour and just completed casting the Brazilian production in Sao Paolo.

As it enters its 16th year, The Lion King remains ascendant, continuing to reign as a cultural phenomenon and one of the most popular stage musicals in the world. Since its Broadway premiere on November 13, 1997, 20 global productions have been seen by more than 65 million people and, cumulatively, run a staggering 91 years. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (under the direction of Thomas Schumacher), The Lion King is the fifth longest-running musical in Broadway history and only the second show in history to generate five productions worldwide running 10 or more years. Translated into seven different languages (Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Mandarin, Spanish and Portuguese), The Lion King can currently be seen on Broadway and on tour across North America, in Tokyo and on tour in Japan, in London's West End and on tour throughout the UK, and in Hamburg and Madrid.

The Lion King won six 1998 Tony® Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design (Richard Hudson), Best Costume Design (Julie Taymor), Best Lighting Design (Donald Holder), Best Choreography (Garth Fagan) and Best Direction of a Musical. The Lion King has also earned more than 70 major arts awards including the 1998 NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, the 1999 Grammy® for Best Musical Show Album, the 1999 Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Event of the Year and the 1999 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Choreography and Best Costume Design.

The Broadway score features Elton John and Tim Rice's music from The Lion King animated film along with three new songs by John and Rice; additional musical material by South African Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer; and music from "Rhythm of the Pride Lands," an album inspired by the original music in the film, written by Lebo M, Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer. The resulting sound of The Lion King is a fusion of Western popular music and the distinctive sounds and rhythms of Africa, ranging from the Academy Award®-winning song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" to the haunting ballad "Shadowland."

The pre-Broadway engagement of The Lion King had its world premiere on July 13, 1997 in Minneapolis at the historic Orpheum Theatre. The pre-Broadway engagement ran for eight weeks, closing on August 31, 1997. The show officially opened on Broadway on November 13, 1997 and moved to its current home in the Minskoff Theatre on June 13, 2006.

For tickets, show information and performance schedule, call Ticketmaster's Disney on Broadway hotline at 866-870-2717 or visit online, LionKing.com.